Do new changes to ODSP really benefit everyone?

Just in time for the weekend, new changes were announced to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) that would eliminate some of the more punitive restrictions that, in my opinion, contributed to people getting stuck on the program. The biggest change comes in people’s ability to save money and assets while receiving ODSP support; whereas previously users could only save up to $5,000 before losing their monthly benefit, now individual users can save up to $40,000 in cash and/or assets without affecting their monthly stipend or medical benefits. Credit where credit is due — this is a really important change to ODSP. By allowing people to save/hold more assets, we’re enabling people to have a better standard of living. Not only that, this increases the chances of young people with disabilities being able to attend post secondary school, as most would need to save a lot more than $5,000 per year to afford the cost of university/college.

But much like the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), my main concern is that the benefits of these changes will not be felt by most on ODSP, disproportionately helping the small percentage of users that already benefit from familial, financial and social privilege. These changes (and RDSPs more generally) are great for people who have pre-existing access to money through family/friends, a group of people I suspect are already well positioned to manage. But just like how those scrapping by exclusively on the monthly stipend from ODSP do not have enough money to regularly make deposits into an RDSP account, these changes will not be greatly felt when a vast majority of one’s “earnings” are going to cover day-to-day expenses with very little left over to save. To put this into perspective, ODSP recipients are only entitled to a maximum of $1,050 per month; with most one bedroom apartments renting for over $700 in London, that only leaves $300 to cover transit, food, clothes and other needs.

As Ron Malis, a financial advisor for people with disabilities, aptly states in the article:

“You increase the size of the water barrel, but you do not allow people to open the tap much more than is currently possible today,” Malis said. “It makes things so complex for people who are struggling.”

Without significant increases in housing & spending allowance, I fear these changes are more of a PR stunt and many on ODSP will not see any tangible improvement in their quality of life.